CU Cross Country dominates Pac-12
Heading into the NCAA Championships, Colorado’s men’s and women’s Cross Country teams already have a lot to be proud of.
Since the beginning of the season in September, the women’s team has placed within the top 2 at all of their meets, winning three times, and the men have placed within the top 3, winning one time. Emily Covert, freshman, India Johnson, senior, and Abby Nichols, senior, were the top three scorers for the CU women’s team this season, with Rachel McArthur, senior, usually not far behind. The men’s team was most consistently led by Eduardo “Lalo” Herrera, senior, with Brendan Fraser, junior, Andrew Kent, senior, and Alec Hornecker, senior, often being the next top scorers for CU.
On Oct. 29, the Buffs made a statement at the Pac-12 Championships in Salt Lake City when Colorado swept the men’s and women’s titles, the fourth time they have done so since joining the Pac-12 in 2011.
Individually, the men had three runners in the top 10: Eduardo Herrera led in third place, with Austin Vancil, sophomore, finishing sixth and Andrew Kent seventh. The women had four runners in the top 5: Abby Nichols and Emily Covert led with a 1-2 finish, while India Johnson finished fourth and Rachel McArthur fifth.
Following the Pac-12 Championships, Colorado received multiple conference honors. Abby Nichols, after winning the individual conference title, was named the Pac-12 Women’s Athlete of the Year. She was also awarded the USTFCCCA Co-Women’s National Athlete of the Week.
Hannah Minuitti was the highest finishing true freshman at the Pac-12 Championships, crossing the line in 12th place, and was subsequently named the Pac-12 Women’s Freshman of the Year.
Eleven total Colorado runners, six men and five women, were named to All Pac-12 teams. Emily Covert, India Johnson, Rachel McArthur, and Abby Nichols were named to the first team for the women, while Hannah Minuitti was named to the second team. Eduardo Herrera, Andrew Kent, and Austin Vancil were named to the first team for the men, with Brendan Fraser, Stephen Jones, senior, and Charlie Sweeney, junior, being named to the second team.
In addition, Head Coach Mark Wetmore was named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year for leading both the men and women’s teams to a Pac-12 Championship and the fact that this is the fourth time Colorado has swept that title. This is Coach Wetmore’s 27th season as Head Coach for Colorado, his 12th and 13th time receiving the Pac-12 Coach of the Year honor for the men and women’s teams, respectively, and his 33rd and 34th time, respectively, being named conference coach of the year.
To get to nationals, the Colorado women’s team placed second at regionals on November 12th, to automatically qualify, and the men’s team placed third to earn an at-large bid. The men have advanced to the championship for the last 30 years, while the women have advanced in 29 of the last 30 years; this is the 13th consecutive year that both the men and women’s teams have qualified.
With the performance they put up this season, the women have earned a No. 3 ranking and the men secured No. 5. At last year’s championships, the women placed seventh and the men placed 14th; hopefully, they can improve on their performance this year.
The NCAA Cross Country Championships are on Saturday, Nov. 20, 2021. The championships will take place in the state of Florida for the first time as Florida State University hosts the events at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Florida. The women’s 6k race begins at 8:20am MST, followed by the men’s 10k race at 9:10am MST. The events will be broadcast live on ESPNU, with coverage starting at 8am; the events will also be streamed live through the ESPN App. Live results will be available at NCAA.com.
